A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. IV, Part 7

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 656

USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. IV > Part 7

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Mr. Dwight was married in 1889 to Miss Mary Jane Hunter, a half-blood Choctaw, and a sister of Tom W. Hunter, who was twice defeated by Chief Green McCur- tain for the office of principal chief, and who is now a member of the Oklahoma Legislature from Choctaw County. She is a daughter of Benny Hunter, who came with the Choctaws from Mississippi in 1832, and who became a wealthy stockman in the nation. The mother of Mrs. Dwight was a white woman of the name of Ten- nessee Risner, a sister of Atwood C .. Risner of Durant, Oklahoma.

Ben H. Dwight is the only son of Simon Timothy and Mary Jane (Hunter) Dwight. He was born in the old historic Village of Mayhew, in the Choctaw Nation, on November 24, 1890. He had his first schooling in the Armstrong Academy while his uncle, Tom Hunter, was superintendent of the school. He later attended the pub- lic schools of Caddo and the high school at Honey Grove, where he was graduated in 1908 with the highest honors, and as class valedictorian. He was awarded three schol- arships for the excellency of his work. One of them admitted him to the University of Texas at Austin; another to Trinity University, at Waxahachie, Texas, and a third to Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas. However, his choice of a university did not lie among them. He chose instead the University of Michigan, and after a year there he entered Columbia University, in New York City. In 1912 he received his A. B. degree from Columbia, and in that year he also completed a year of training in law. He enrolled for the second year in the law department of the University of Oklahoma, then returned to Columbia for a half year, and in 1913

entered Leland Stanford, Jr., University in California, and was graduated there in 1914 with his law degree. In college Mr. Dwight was prominent and popular, and at Leland Stanford University he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Fraternity, as well as the Phi Delta Phi, which is the honor fraternity of the legal profession.

Mr. Dwight's further fraternal affiliations are con- fined to membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks at Durant. He is a democrat, and is a leader in party affairs in Durant. A forceful and pleas- ing speaker, he has done excellent party work as a stump orator, and it is expected that he will continue to be affiliated with political activities in the state. On September 1, 1915, he joined forces with Mr. George Hoke in a law partnership under the firm name of Dwight & Hoke, and they have offices in Durant.

HON. ROBERT P. DEGRAFFENRIED, elected to the district bench of the Third Judicial District of Oklahoma in 1910, and now serving in his second term, is an able and virile product of the State of Alabama. When but a child his family was impoverished by the circumstances attending the Civil war, and he early learned to be self- reliant. He has trusted nothing to hazard and owes no debt to adventitious circumstances, but constant toil and endeavor, based upon a splendid endowment of mental strength and physical endurance, have brought to him an honored place among the men prominent in law, juris- prudence and affairs of a civic character.

Judge Robert P. deGraffenried was born on his father's plantation in Greene County, Alabama, Decem- ber 1, 1859, his parents being John F. and Annie Eliza (Kennedy) deGraffenried. His father was born in Fair- field District, South Carolina, and was a lineal descend- ant of Baron deGraffenried, who came from Switzerland during colonial times and settled in North Carolina. The mother of Judge deGraffenried was born in Greene County, Alabama, and was a daughter of the Rev. R. W. B. Kennedy, a Presbyterian minister of Scotch-Irish de- scent. When John F. deGraffenried was a boy, his father, Dr. Trezevant deGraffenried, removed his family from South Carolina to Alabama and settled in the south cen- tral part of the state. There John F. grew to manhood and received a good education. He was a West Point Military Academy cadet, but on account of ill health in his youth never graduated from that institution, but had a military career during the Civil war as a soldier of the army of the Confederacy. His whole-hearted and unself- ish support of the cause which he believed to be just caused him to lose his many possessions, including the broad acres of his plantation and his many slaves.

As a lad Robert P. deGraffenried found it incum- bent upon him to assist himself if he desired more than a public school education. His preliminary studies were prosecuted in the unusually good schools at Pleasant Ridge, in the vicinity of the home plantation, and witlı $30 as his only capital he entered the Agricultural Col- lege of Mississippi, where he remained four years. He managed to work his way through that institution, and at the time of his graduation therefrom, in 1885, not only had paid his tuition but was possessed of a cash . balance of $75. Mr. deGraffenried then went to Ken- tucky, where he was given employment as teacher in the public schools, thus enabling himself to take summer courses in law at the University of Virginia. He was admitted to the bar in Kentucky in 1887, and during the same year went to Texas, where he embarked in practice at the Town of Grandbury, remaining three years. He next removed to Quanah, Texas, where he practiced law five years, and during two years of that time acted in the capacity of district attorney, an office to which he was elected on the democratic ticket. He declined to

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be a candidate for re-election, and in 1895 came to Muskogee, which city has continued to bo his home to the present. Here he has been prominent not only as a thor- ough, profound and conscientious legist, but as the in- cumbent of judicial office and as a public-spirited and useful citizen. He has served as a member of the Mus- kogee City Council and as a member of the Muskogee Board of Education, and was chairman of the latter body when tho present splendid school buildings of the city wero erected. He was the first democratic nominee for judge of the District Court of the Third Judicial District, after Oklahoma had attained to statehood, in 1907, but was defeated at the polls by the republican candidate, Hon. John H. King. He again opposed Judge King in the election 1910 and was successful in gain- ing the election, and was re-elected in 1914, again winning from Judge King. Judge deGraffenried has won an enviable reputation in his judicial capacity, and his record is that of a dignified, accomplished and strictly impartial jurist, who has won the undivided sup- port and respect of both bench and bar. Fraternally Judge deGraffenried is a Master Mason and a Knight of Pythias. With his family, he attends the Presbyterian Church, of which he has been a member since youth.

While teaching school in Kentucky, Judge deGraffen- ried met Miss Bessie Lacy, with whom he was united in marriage in 1891. Three children have come to them, namely : Jouett Lacy, Arthur Moseley and Mary.

WILLIAM SMITH MCDONALD. Perhaps no state in the Union contains a larger proportiou of up-to-date, enter- prising citizens than Oklahoma. The reason is not far to seek. It is not many years since the state, then the old Indian Territory, was first opened to white settle- ment, Government lands being granted practically free of cost to eligible applicants. The opportunity of thus obtaining free land and speedily developing good farms and homesteads attracted a number of enterprising men from all parts of the country, most of whom remained here and have since taken an active and useful part in building up this commonwealth. Among those who made their advent here on the opening of the Cherokce Strip in 1893 was William Smith McDonald, now postmaster of the Town of Ingersoll. Mr. McDonald is a native of the Old Dominion, having been born in a log house in Lee County, Virginia, July 4, 1868. His parents were George W. and Rebecca P. (Crabtree) McDonald, the father being a son of William, who was a son of Fred- erick McDonald. The father of Frederick was Com- modore O'Brien McDonald, who was banished from Scotland at the time of political disturbances marked by an historic massacre.

George W. McDonald, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Roanoke County, Virginia, December 4, 1833. He followed farming and mercantile business in his native state until 1881, at which time he removed to Kansas, settling in Greenwood County. There he was engaged in agriculture for five years, subsequently buy- ing land in and removing to Washington County, that state. After four years of farm life there he made another removal, this time to Osborne County, Kansas, where he farmed uutil 1894. In that year he came to Oklahoma, settling in old Woods County and buying land four miles west of Ingersoll, where he now lives, having one of the good farms in what is now Alfalfa County. He is a veteran of the Civil war, having served in the Union army. His father, William, who was for eight years a republican member of the Legislature of Virginia, also came to this section, dying in Alfalfa County, April 20, 1896.

George W. McDonald was married in 1855 to Rebecca

P. Crabtree, who was a daughter of Smith and Mahale: (Barnes) Crabtree, and born January 4, 1834. Her par ents were both natives of Lee County, Virginia. Thi: marriage resulted in the birth of eight children, three sons and five daughters, as follows: Mary Jane, born ir 1857, died June 3, 1886, in Washington County, Kansas, She had married in 1879 M. H. Thompson and left three children, Emma, Max and Lee, the two latter being twins. Mahaley Elizabeth, born in 1859, died November 20, 1881, in Greenwood County, Kansas. Martha A., born iu 1861, married in 1882 W. A. Downard, who died in 1911. By him she had five children, Guy R., Max, Albert B., Donald and Dorotha. Margaret Ellen, born in 1863, in 1886 married G. L. Stauffer, and has five sons, Leslie L., Robert G., Ora M., Marley R. and George. Nannie Alice, born in 1866, married in 1898 C. A. Beatty and resides iu Osborne County, Kansas. William S., the sixth child, born July 4, 1868, is the subject of this sketch. Robert Lee, born April 12, 1872, married Mabel Julian in 1899 and lives at Neodesha, Kansas. John Franklin, born November 30, 1875, married in 1898 Ella Coffield. They have three children, Nina, Vera and Ruth.

William Smith McDonald was reared on a farm and educated in the public schools of Kansas. The opening of the Cherokee Strip in September, 1893, attracted him, as it did so many others, and he joined in the rush for land, securing a Government tract two miles west of Ingersoll, of which he is still the owner. In 1908 a cyclone destroyed all his improvements on the farm, entailing a loss to him of $5,000, a number of persons being killed on the occasion. He and his family only escaped by taking refuge in a cyclone cave. Mr. McDonald is a democrat and since coming to this sec- tion has taken a useful interest in local affairs and made many warm friends among the leading citizens of Inger- soll and vicinity. On August 19, 1914, he was appointed postmaster of Ingersoll by civil service examination, the office being of the fourth class, and has since served acceptably. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a member of the Christian Church.

On February 8, 1897, Mr. McDonald was married, in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma, to Miss Della Lovitt, daugh- ter of Walter and Ida M. (Lines) Lovitt. She was born October 30, 1886, at Wellington, Kansas, and died Janu- ary 8, 1901, in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma. She was a woman of fine personal character, of a strong religious nature, and was a life-long member of the Society of Friends. Her parents are natives of Illinois. Mrs. McDonald left two children: William Stanley, born March 6, 1899, and Della Verne, born September 11, 1900.

JAMES GRAY. When the subject of oil and oil men is taken up for discussion in Washington County mention is made sooner or later of James Gray, who for a num- ber of years has been one of the enterprising spirits in that industry and who has supplied some of the faith and work and a considerable amount of capital for the up- building of Bartlesville and the development of the oil fields in that section of the state.

A resident of Indian Territory and Oklahoma for many years, where he was a farmer when all this section of the country was owned by the Indians, James Gray was born in Lee County, Virginia, January 1, 1869, a son of C. B. and Matilda (Ball) Gray, the former a native of Kentucky and the latter of Virginia. His parents were married in Virginia, later moved to Eldorado Springs, Missouri, and from there to Caney, Kansas, where they are now living. His father, who is now seventy-one years of age, has been a Baptist clergyman all his active

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areer. He and his wife became the parents of ten chil- Iren, eight of whom are still living.

Next to the oldest in this family, James Gray had to hift for himself from an early age, since his father's profession did not allow a generous provision to permit all the children the luxury of a liberal education. At the age of sixteen he came to Indian Territory with his brother-in-law, J. E. Thompson, and for several years was a farmer operating a leasehold for Arthur Armstrong. After the first year he engaged in farming for himself and that was his regular line of business up to 1898. In that year he and his brother John C. Gray engaged n the general merchandise business under the firm name of Gray Brothers, and they were among the older firms of what is now the flourishing City of Bartlesville. They sold goods here for about seven years, and then retired, since which time James Gray has been identified with the oil industry and with the direction of his various cap- italistic interests. He and his brother built a two-story brick store building on Second Street and Johnstone Avenue, and after selling that built the coliseum on 4th Street and Johnstone Avenue. The first floor of this building has five store rooms, and there is a hotel of sixteen rooms above and on top a roof garden. Mr. Gray has also erected a number of residence properties, some of which he has since sold. He helped to organize and was vice president of Velokee Oil Company until he sold his interests. He is now the active business manager of the Little Caney Oil Company, which he assisted in organizing and which carries on extensive operations along the Little Caney Valley. Mr. Gray has a large amount of property which is still undeveloped and eligibly situated in the oil fields of Northern Oklahoma.

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As a citizen Mr. Gray has given his service to the city council of Bartlesville for five years, and is an active democrat, a member of the Baptist Church and affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the Knights of Pythias. In 1892 he married Miss Delia Speak, who was also born in Virginia, a daughter of T. S. Speak. Their union has been blessed with the birth of five children : Ethel, Roy, Pearl, Gladys and James, Jr.

GEORGE B. STONE. The progress of constructive achievement in America has proceeded at such intensive haste and has involved such complex organization of forces and activities that it is by no means safe to entrust to the future the task of securing a proper appre- ciation and recognition of those men who have labored with such strenuous energy and disinterested purpose in behalf of the success of some movement which will vitally affect the welfare of many thousands both in the present and in the generations to come. When Oklahoma became a State in 1907 there were several cities within its bor- ders which could contend in friendly rivalry for the hon- ors of leadership and metropolitan distinction. At the present time the Government capital is synonymous with the commercial metropolis of this great and growing commonwealth. Up to eight years ago Oklahoma City, considering its age and its opportunities, had made a notable record of progress among American cities of the Southwest. While there was a great deal to be satisfied with, there were few men of exceptional fore- sight and farsight who realized that the critical junc- ture had arrived, and that henceforth the city must either rest content with a fair division of the honors and rewards that go with metropolitan greatness, or take an immense stride forward and for all time insure the unique and positive advantages of unqualified emi- nence. The story of how this epoch of progress was effected is not to be introduced at this point and reference is made to the subject only for affording a just

estimate of the individual work performed by one of the undoubted leaders in that critical period, George B. Stone, who for the past fifteen years has been identified with Oklahoma City's business affairs and is president of the G. B. Stone Realty Company.

The successful position of the problems involved in lifting Oklahoma City to the front rank among the cities of the State was largely due to that organization of public spirited, liberal and enthusiastic citizens known as the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce. But every such organization must have effective leadership, and it was the good fortune of the chamber to have elected as its president for 1908 a man of such undoubted ca- pacity for leadership as George B. Stone. When he went into that office Oklahoma City had practically no indus- trialism beyond railroad shops and local factories of limited scope and importance. It was Mr. Stone, while president of the Chamber of Commerce, who inaugurated the idea of getting some real industrial enterprises. He wrote the first letters which were sent out to the pack- ers of the United States on the subject of making Okla- homa City a packing house center. While this idea had a fruitage in remarkable results, as will be shown, he did perhaps even more by formulating and giving definite direction to the spirit of enthuiasm which up to that time existed, but was unorganized and conse- quently ineffectual for the accomplishment of any great end. What he did as president of the Chamber in co-ordi- nating its forces and strengthening its abilities to work unitedly for the welfare of the city, was strikingly illus- trated when he retired from office December 31, 1908. The first time in the history of the body, the Chamber presented him with a loving cup, an honor not bestowed upon any member up to that time, and which was only a faint expression of the general regard felt for his effective service. In the two succeeding years, Mr. Stone was as closely devoted to the work of the Chamber of Commerce as he had been while president, and shared with Sidney L. Brock, who was president of the Chamber during 1909 and 1910, the honor of securing for Okla. homa City the two great packing plants of Morris and Sulzberger, the location of which with the incidental investment of upwards of $10,000,000, has definitely placed Oklahoma City among the important packing house centers of the country. It was Mr. Stone and Mr. Brock who conceived the plan and eventually carried it out of raising the bonus of $300,000 demanded by the firm of Morris & Company for establishing their plant in Oklahoma City. Without reviewing the history of that remarkable industrial campaign, it is only proper to quote a few words from an editorial in the Daily Oklahoman to indicate how the city in general appre- ciated his work. "Not everyone knows the tremendous efforts which were put forth by Mr. Brock and Mr. Stone. One city in a thousand can produce men of the spirit and caliber of Sidney Brock and George Stone. And any community which is fortunate enough to claim citizens who are ready and willing to stake a large part of their fortune on the hazard of greatly benefiting their town, can never go backward, on the contrary it is bound to go forward by leaps and bounds."

George B. Stone, to refer briefly to the principal event in his own career, was born at Mattoon, Illinois, February 23, 1865, a son of George W. and Hannah (Whittle) Stone. His parents were both born in Bel- mont County, Ohio. In 1849 his father went around the Horn to California, and in that state followed the trade of millwright as well as miner, and was one of the few who returned with some considerable addition to their material prosperity. Subsequently he was a contractor and builder in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas, also engaged

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in the livestock business, and during 1875-76 was at Cheyenne, Wyoming, engaged in selling horses and mules to the Government for use in the Black Hills country. On account of ill health he removed to Old Mexico, and in the winter of 1878 established his home in West Texas.

It was at this time that the active career of George B. Stone began. From 1878 until 1882 he rode the range, a veritable cowboy, and was in the employ of one of the large cattle outfits operating over the West Texas country. He was not only fearless and industrious, as most cowboys of the time were, but was also reliable in a business way, and consequently in 1882 his employers put him in charge of their ranch outfit, barns and trans- portation facilities at Colorado City, Texas. From there he removed in 1884 to Fort Worth, Texas, and started to feed cattle for the market. He suffered from a dis- astrous fire and in 1885 removed to El Paso, and for a time was a salesman for the firm of L. B. Frudenthal & Company, wholesale dry goods and groceries. In 1887 Mr. Stone removed to Wolf City, Texas, and there first became actively identified with the real estate business. He constructed the first brick building in Wolf City, rented the lower floor for a bank, retaining his own office in the same building. In 1889 he removed his business headquarters to New Birmingham, Texas, and there had charge of the real estate department for the New Birmingham Iron & Land Company. In the spring of 1890 Mr. Stone identified himself with Wichita Falls, Texas. He was in that city during its greatest period of development, when it became a railroad and business center, was in the real estate business and made himself in many ways an active factor in the upbuilding of the city. In 1897 Mr. Stone served as delegate from Texas to the Trans-Mississippi Congress at Salt Lake City. There he was instrumental in having the congress advo- cate a new measure in which he saw great prospective benefit, and which provided that the State of Texas should so amend its constitution as to permit bonds to be issued against land in arid sections for irrigation pur- poses.

Before coming to Oklahoma Mr. Stone had actively assisted in the expansion of its original territory for settlement. In February, 1899, he went to Washington, D. C., to advocate the opening of the Kiowa and Coman- che country on the theory that it was a natural stock raising district and that by the use of silos could be made one of the most useful regions for the production of livestock in the United States. It was in 1900 that Mr. Stone removed to Oklahoma City, where he has since been engaged in the real estate and insurance business.

Since its organization in 1907 he has been a director of the Oklahoma State Fair Association and has been vice president since 1913. He is a director of the Ameri- can National Bank of Oklahoma City; a member of the Oklahoma City Men's Dinner Club, and a member of the First Presbyterian Church.

While a resident of Colorado City, Texas, Mr. Stone in 1884 was sent with a bunch of Texas mares to Harper, Kansas. After selling his stock to good advantage, he was induced to remain and attend a ball given by the select members of Harper society. That this was the important episode of his career is proved by the fact that at the ball he became acquainted with Miss Jessie Ervin, daughter of Dr. J. B. Ervin, and they were mar- ried in 1888. Mrs. Stone died in the fall of 1904, leaving five children: Hazel, who is the wife of J. W. Ward, Jr., of Oklahoma City; Ervin, who was educated in the Culver Military Academy at Culver, Indiana, and in the University of Oklahoma, and is now a civil engineer engaged in Government work on the Panama Canal;

Dorothy; George, Jr., now deceased; and Jessie. Ii 1910 Mr. Stone married Mrs. Emma (Chaffee) Ankney daughter of Allen H. Chaffee of Oklahoma City. They have a daughter named Frances. Mr. Stone and family reside at 425 West Thirteenth Street, and his offices are in the Insurance Building.

EDWIN S. KIRK. One of the progressive young men of Southern Oklahoma, with a clean public record and hundreds of loyal friends in Marshall County, is Edwin S. Kirk, county clerk, a position which he has held for three years. Mr. Kirk was born at Bagdad, Williamson County, Texas, March 29, 1877, and is a son of H. N. and Annie E. (Sterling) Kirk.

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Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941 Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society Number of Pages: 656

Author: Thoburn, Joseph B. (Joseph Bradfield), 1866-1941
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago, New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 656